Phase-space representation of completely positive quantum operation: Two-mode squeezed vacuum and thermal states

Abstract

Completely positive quantum operations are frequently discussed in the contexts of statistical mechanics and quantum information. They are customarily given by maps forming positive operator-values measures. To intuitively understand physical meanings of such abstract operations, the method of phase-space representations is examined. This method enables one to grasp the operations in terms of the classical statistical notions. As an example of physical importance, here, the phase-space representation of the completely positive quantum operation arising from the single-mode subdynamics of the two-mode squeezed vacuum state, which maps from the vacuum state at vanishing temperature to mixed states with perfect decoherence including the thermal state, is studied. It is found in the $P$ representation that remarkably this operation is invertible, implying that coherence lost by the quantum operation can be recovered.